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(More customer reviews)I bought this C330 for my retired parents. I chose this one because it is the same unit my wife has, and it works great. She is horrible with directions, but now is confident to venture to far away suburbs. After using it for a few months, she said, "I love that GPS". It works great when you're on the phone and someone is trying to give you directions to their house. Just say, "give me your address" and you're ready to go.
My parents are not gadget freaks; they don't even use a cell phone. They needed a GPS that was easy to use. The C330 menus are simple to follow and intuitive. Adding locations to the Favorites makes it even faster to use.
I like the long battery life. When I'm headed out of the area, I borrow the Garmin from my wife's car and don't even bring the windshield mount (charger). I've driven for more than four hours without so much as a low battery warning.
Some of the nice features include:
- Below the displayed map is the Estimated Time of Arrival and how long before you are going to need to make a turn.
- The touch screen removes confusing buttons, and only offers you options that apply to the function you're working on.
- Automatically recalculating directions if you miss a turn. In some cases I don't want to take the proposed route, so the C330 will reroute based on where I'm headed.
- The external volume control allows you to adjust the audible directions without navigating through menus.
- When approaching interchanges, the C330 gets you in the proper lane so you don't accidentally take the wrong ramp. The voice says things like "in .2 miles, keep left" or "stay right".
- The C330 looks at your speed to decide how far in advance it will give you audible directions about the next turn. The faster you're driving, the greater the distance. At residential speeds it might give you a few hundred feet. At highway speeds it gives you several tenths of a mile.
- The display automatically adjusts from day to night mode at dusk.
- You can program the unit to avoid toll roads, unpaved roads, and U turns.
- The entire US is preloaded in the C330. No need to anticipate where you're traveling and load additional maps ahead of time.
- The ability to use the C330 indoors to program your trip. I opened the one for my parents and pre-programmed their home as well as all of their relatives ahead of time. When they headed south for the winter, everything was ready to go.
- You can charge the unit from a USB cable.My wife's C330 locked up once - completely frozen. We could not do anything in the menu or even turn it off. I searched the Internet and found instructions on how to reset the unit. After that, the unit worked just fine. It didn't even lose any of the data we had programmed in it. I suspect "locked-up" units are why so many are returned and then offered as refurbished units. I had no hesitation on buying a refurb after knowing how to reset it.
Here are the instructions to reset a frozen C330. Remove the silver trim faceplate. In the 12 o'clock position is a groove for your fingernail. Otherwise there are two hidden tabs on the right and left sides. Use a tiny screwdriver blade to gently pop out the tabs by lifting the sides. (Be careful so you don't slip and scratch the screen). After you remove the trim, there is a reset button in the 3 o'clock position. Push the button to reboot the C330 and you're as good as new. Even few months our C330 seems to begin taking a long time to acquire satellites. I'll reset the unit and things improve. I liken this condition to a Windows PC that starts acting quirky if it has not been re-booted in a long time.Here are a few of the things I don't like, or wish the C330 would do:
- The C330 doesn't allow you to get to locations that are "off-road". This device is intended for drivings, not for hiking, geo-caching or other activities not along the road.
- Provide Latitude and Longitude coordinates for a location or allow you to enter destinations using Lat/Long.
- Sometimes the Garmin maps think locations are on the opposite side of the road. I chalk this up to it being a municipality where the odd/even addresses are on the opposite sides of the street from what Garmin is expecting. Hopefully this will be fixed in future Garmin maps.
- Speaking of maps, I don't like the fact that I have to pay big bucks for updated Garmin maps. In my opinion updates should be free for at least some period of time. Fortunately the maps are pretty good as long as you're not in an area with lots of new construction.
- The C340 is exactly the same unit, however it pronounces the street names using text to speech technology.
- The unit should have an accessible reset button. Either drill a hole in the trim plate, or relocate the button to the back of the unit.All in all we're very pleased with the Garmin C330. In the future I'm sure I'll be looking for more Garmin products when others in the household start driving.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Garmin StreetPilot c330 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator (Factory Refurbished)
This is a refurbished GPS. Refurbished generally means that the unit has been returned to the manufacturer, who brings the navigator back to like new conditions. Some GPS may contain cosmetic blemishes.With a simple touch screen interface, automatic route calculation to any destination, and turn-by-turn voice-prompted directions, the StreetPilot c330 GPS navigator is a powerful companion for your adventures on the road. Plus, Garmin has designed the "c-series" of car navigation units to be as simple and easy-to-use as possible-- no more intimidating features, just straightforward, basic navigation at your fingertips. Selecting a destination is as simple as a few finger-strokes, and you can choose between a three-dimensional navigation view or the more traditional "bird's eye" overhead view.
The c330 keeps track of places that you find and stores the fifty most recent finds in an easy to access list called Recent Selections, placing the most recently viewed at the top of the list. This becomes a very helpful feature if you visit the same places over and over and don't want the inconvenient of reloading the information in the unit multiple times. Although the c330 boasts distinctive and sleek styling, simplicity is the name of the game. The only buttons are a rotary volume knob and an on/off switch. The device is secured by a suction-mount cradle that fastens to the windshield for easy portability between vehicles. You can customize the unit's appearance with an array of colored faceplates that are sold separately.
For the ultimate out-of-the-box convenience, the StreetPilot c330 comes pre-loaded with highly detailed MapSource City Select street data. The database features an industry-leading five million-plus points of interest, including hotels, restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, and attractions. The c330's bright, 3.5-inch diagonal, 16-bit color display makes navigation a snap. The unit also features dual integrated speakers for high-quality voice prompts, and an internal lithium-ion battery for out-of-car route planning.
It's also worth mentioning that with some GPS units the manual to use them is as thick as a phone book, but it was a pleasant surprise to find that the c330's manual was very easy to use and provided many screen shots to make sure the user understood the units capabilities. If you find yourself on the road looking for addresses often and just want a GPS to tell you where to go simply and clearly than this unit was made for you.
What's in the Box StreetPilot c330 receiver, vehicle suction cup mount, PC/USB interface cable and quick-reference guide. Also includes a factory pre-loaded version of Americas Recreational Basemap and MapSource City Select North America CD with full unlock (for sale in North America).
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